Veteran lyricist and screenwriter Javed Akhtar has condemned a deepfake video that falsely claims he has undergone a religious conversion. The veteran poet, lyricist and screenwriter took to social media to set the record straight and warn of legal consequences for those behind the fabrication.
Akhtar has spent decades publicly identifying as an atheist and a secular thinker. His opinions often generate debate on social media.
Javed Akhtar calls out deepfake video
The controversy began on Thursday, January 1, 2026, when a manipulated video started circulating across social media platforms. The clip featured an AI-generated image of Javed Akhtar wearing a skullcap (topi), accompanied by claims that he had "turned to God." Akhtar took to X (formerly Twitter) and wasted no time in calling out the deception.
"A fake video is in circulation showing my fake computer generated picture with a topi on my head claiming that ultimately I have turned to God . It is rubbish . I am seriously considering to report this to the cyber police and ultimately dragged the person responsible for this fake news and those few who forward it to the court for damaging my reputation and credibility," he strongly wrote on the platform. Take a look:
The timing of the deepfake appears deliberate, surfacing just days after Akhtar participated in a high-profile intellectual face-off in New Delhi. On December 20, 2025, he engaged in a public debate titled 'Does God Exist?' with Islamic scholar Mufti Shamail Nadwi at the Constitution Club of India.
Javed Akhtar's 'Don't become like Muslims' statement was criticised by Javed Akhtar
During the IFP interview, Javed Akhtar, the screenwriter for Sholay along with Salim Khan, spoke about the iconic 'Yunki ye kaun bola' scene from the film starring Hema Malini and Dharmendra. He said, "In Sholay, there was a scene where Dharmendra hides behind Shiv ji's murti and speaks, and Hema Malini (thinks) Shiv ji is talking to her. Is it possible to have a scene like that today? No, I will not write a scene (like this today). Were there no Hindus in 1975 (when Sholay released)? Were there no dharmic people? There were."
However, his line that started the social media chatter was: "As a matter of fact, I'm on record, I'm not saying it right here. Raju Hirani and I were in Pune in front of a big audience and I said 'Don't become like Muslims. Make them like yourself. You are becoming like Muslims'. It's a tragedy."
The statement left social media users divided. While some supported the lyricist, others, including singer Lucky Ali, targeted him. Responding directly to Akhtar's statement, the Hairat singer wrote, "Don’t become like Javed Akhtar, never original and ugly as f**k."
Though Akhtar didn't react to Lucky Ali's remarks, the latter apologised on a separate X post. However, a section of social media users were of the opinion that Lucky was sarcastic in his apology. "What I meant was that arrogance is ugly.... it was a mistaken communique' on my part.... monsters may have feelings too and I apologise if I hurt anyones monstrosity (sic)," he penned.
There have been no further developments on this
Also read: After Zaira Wasim, Javed Akhtar condemns hijab row, seeks ‘unconditional apology’ from Nitish Kumar
